Compost has a variety of benefits. For example, compost enhances rainfall penetration, which reduces water runoff and soil erosion. This in turn reduces sediment, nutrients, and pesticide losses to streams by 75-95 percent. Compost also improves the soil and enhances beneficial microbes that help reduce plant diseases and pests.

But Why Should I Compost?

Well, for starters, composting ...

gives "oomph" to your soil—naturally,

reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers,

reduces greenhouse gases,

reduces the need for landfills, and

helps the environment!

How Do I Get Started?

The composting approach you take depends on the materials you have available and how much room you have. If you have yard trimmings, leaves, and the like, you'll need to go the "backyard" route, producing compost that can be spread around your garden—under shrubs, in vegetable beds, or in flower pots.

If your space is more limited, and fruit and veggie scraps are the primary materials you want to compost, you might try vermicomposting—worm composting! Vermicomposting is an efficient way to produce a high-quality product suitable for houseplants, seedling transplants, or general garden use. And you can also use the worms for fishing!

Either way you go, here are some helpful resources to get you started.

The Research Scene

Compost properties can be tailored to meet commercial horticultural, land management, and conservation needs. Researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland are discovering new ways to prepare composts from a variety of mixed sources of organic materials. These materials can be custom designed to produce vigorous healthy plants and landscapes under different conditions. Beltsville compost activities include: